Hundreds of Isle of Man workers are coming to terms with a new landscape with the birth of a global betting giant worth more than £10billion.

PokerStars, which employs more than 300 people in the island, is now officially part of Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power and Betfair.

The island business is part of the Stars Group, a Canadian-b ased online betting and gaming group.

The merger of Flutter and the Stars Group was first proposed last October and was given the all clear by the Competition and Markets Authority in March.

It is estimatedFlutter have in excess of six million active customers and the Stars Group over seven million across more than 100 international markets including the Isle of Man.

Earlier this year the Stars Group told Business News that the group ‘is proud to employ hundreds of staff at its offices in the Isle of Man, which has always been and remains a critical operational hub for the company’.

It added: ‘These employees play an important role in making the Stars Group brands among the safest and most respected in the online gaming industry, and this continues to be the case in 2020 as we plan to enhance the appeal of our flagship poker brand, PokerStars.’

But shortly before the merger went ahead it was announced that Stars Group chief executive Rafi Ashkenazi would not be taking up the post of chief operating officer (COO) at the comb ined Flutter/Stars company.

Stars Group said Mr Ashkenazi would instead be available as a consultant to the new group’s chief executive Peter Jackson. He will additionally join the board in a non-executive capacity.

The companies said they reached their decision following extensive discussions about ‘the optimal construction’ of the senior executive team.